And the man was sharing the pictures and videos with people he encountered over the Internet.

Natanael Osvaldo Terrero, 34, of 1428 Palmetto St., pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography in June. Last week, he was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Terrero was also ordered to register as a sexual offender and will remain on probation for the rest of his life, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill.

According to federal court documents, an FBI agent in Minneapolis first discovered the images in June and traced them to a computer in California. Two subsequent searches by FBI agents that also turned up child porn images were traced to Terrero's home.

In October, authorities searched his home and seized a laptop containing nearly 400 videos and more than 4,500 photos of children being abused, court records said.

Terrero, who is a citizen of the Dominican Republic and a resident alien of the United States, admitted to viewing and transmitting the images from his Clearwater home and the address in California, according to the court documents.

Terrero told investigators in October that he had a 3-year-old daughter who lives in Canada, but he denied molesting her or photographing her. But he said he had previously touched a female child in an inappropriate manner and asked her to engage in sexual activity, the documents said.

Terrero did not previously have a criminal record in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.